Record-Producer.com's publisher David Mellor is featured in the latest issue of Sound on Sound live. He explains the difference between Class D amplification and all the other classes, and why you should want Class D amplification if you work in live sound.
This article is from our archives. Some information may not be current and some links may not be available. We recommend Audio Masterclass and RecordProducer.com for the latest information on pro audio, updated daily and current as of September 7, 2010.
Power amplifiers come in several classes identified by letters. In audio we use Class A, Class AB, Class D, Class G and Class H.
So what do all these classes mean? And how do you know which is most suitable for a particular application.
And what happened to Classes C, E and F?
In this article in the June 2006 issue of Sound on Sound Live, Audio Masterclass's publisher David Mellor explains all of these classes in simple-to-understand language.
Electronics is often a difficult and abstract subject, but here the explanations are very easy to grasp. And what's more, they are not over-simplified - you really do get to know how these amplifiers work.
Class D amplification is commonly used in live sound. This article explains exactly why this is so. Class D has certain features that make it exactly appropriate.
However, Class D isn't so suitable for home hi-fi, or studio monitoring. And you need to understand exactly why.
By the way, the 'D' in Class D doesn't stand for digital. That's a common misunderstanding that this article dispels.
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